Flip latch assembly for media autochanger

ABSTRACT

A method of displacing a media holder assembly of a media autochanger between a first rotational registration position and a second rotational registration position.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation of co-pendng U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 08/812,523 filed Mar. 7, 1997 of Leslie J. Christie, Jr., et alwhich is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/368,465 filed Jan. 4, 1995 ofLeslie J. Christie, Jr., et al., now U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,559, both ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference for all that is disclosedtherein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to media auto changers, i.e.systems for handling and storing data recording media such as magneticdisk, optical disk and tape cartridges and, more particularly, to aflip-latch assembly for a media autochanger of the type having a mediaholder assembly which is rotatable about a media holder flip axis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of magnetic disks for the storage of computer readable data iswell known in the art. Magnetic disks may be fixed in a drive or may beremovable. An optical disk is a data storage medium which is readable bya laser-based reading device. Optical disks such as “compact disks”(“CDs”) are commonly used for storing musical and audiovisual works. Dueto the huge storage capacity of optical disks as compared toconventional magnetic storage media, optical disks are also used in thecomputer industry. One type of optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, canbe readily written and erased and is thus becoming increasingly popularto complement or replace conventional magnetic disks (“hard disks” and“floppy disks”). To increase storage capacity, optical disks may havethe ability to store data on both sides of the disk.

To facilitate storing and handling of removable optical disks andmagnetic disks, the disks are normally mounted in parallelepiped-shapedcartridges. Also used in the computer industry for data storage areparallelepiped-shaped tape cartridges such as Digital Audio Tape (DAT)cartridges and 8-mm tape cartridges.

For large databases consisting of many disk or tape cartridges, it isnecessary to provide a system for storing and handling the cartridges.Various features and components of cartridge storing and handlingsystems, generally referred to in the art are “autochangers”, aredisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,998,232 issued Mar. 5, 1991 for OPTICALDISK HANDLING APPARATUS WITH FLIP LATCH of Methlie et al. (andcorresponding EPO patent application No. 89312226.7 filed Nov. 24,1989); 5,014,255 issued May 7, 1991 for OPTICAL DISK CARTRIDGE HANDLINGAPPARATUS WITH PASSIVE CARTRIDGE ENGAGEMENT ASSEMBLY of Wanger et al.(and corresponding EPO patent application No. 90300988.4 filed Jan. 31,1990; 5,010,536 issued Apr. 23, 1991 for CARTRIDGE HANDLING SYSTEM ofWanger et al. (and corresponding EPO patent application No. 90301420.7filed Feb. 9, 1990; 5,043,962 issued Aug. 27, 1991 for CARTRIDGEHANDLING SYSTEM of Wanger et al. (and corresponding EPO patentapplication No. 90302635.9 filed Mar. 13, 1990); 5,062,093 issued Oct.29, 1991 for OPTICAL DISK INSERTION APPARATUS of Christie et al. (andcorresponding EPO patent application No. 89312461.0 filed Nov. 30,1989); 5,101,387 issued Mar. 31, 1992 for LATERAL DISPLACEMENT CONTROLASSEMBLY FOR AN OPTICAL DISK HANDLING SYSTEM of Wanger et al. (andcorresponding EPO patent application No. 90300305.1 filed Jan. 11,1990); 5,184,336 issued Feb. 2, 1993 for LATERAL DISPLACEMENT CONTROLASSEMBLY FOR AN OPTICAL DISK HANDLING SYSTEM of Wanger et al.;co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/020,160 filed Feb. 18,1993 for LINEAR DISPLACEMENT AND SUPPORT APPARATUS FOR USE IN ACARTRIDGE HANDLING SYSTEM of Luffel et al., and co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/135,607 filed Oct. 12, 1993 for CARTRIDGEHANDLING SYSTEM WITH DUAL CARTRIDGE ENGAGING ASSEMBLY of Rugg et al.,which are each hereby specifically incorporated by reference for allthat is disclosed therein.

In general, a media autochanger may include a media storage system forstoring media such as optical disk cartridges at predetermined storagelocations. Such an autochanger may perform such functions as retrievinga desired cartridge from its storage location, transporting thecartridge to a disk or tape drive, and inserting the cartridge into thedrive. The media autochanger may also perform the functions of removinga cartridge from a drive, moving the cartridge into alignment with itsoriginal or other storage location, and inserting the cartridge in thatstorage location. It may also be necessary for the autochanger to flip acartridge before insertion or reinsertion into a drive to reverse theside thereof which is read or written by the drive.

U.S. Pat. No 4,998,232 of Methlie et al. incorporated by referenceabove, discloses an autochanger having a media holding assembly which isrotatable about a longitudinally extending flip axis. The media holdingassembly has a first rotational registration position and a secondrotational registration position which is angularly displaced 180_fromthe first registration position. In the two registration positions, themedia holding assembly is positioned in angular alignment withassociated media drives or storage slots and may thus be oriented toinsert media into the associated drive or storage slot with the media ina first side up orientation or a second side up orientation dependingupon the rotational registration position of the media holder.

The media holding assembly may be rotated about the longitudinal flipaxis, from one rotational registration position to the other, by anassociated drive motor. A flip-latch assembly is provided to selectivelyterminate rotation of the holding assembly at each rotationalregistration position and to maintain the holding assembly in thatregistration position until the flip-latch assembly is selectivelytripped.

The flip-latch assembly of U.S Pat. No. 4,998,232 includes a pair oflongitudinally extending projections which extend from a longitudinalend portion of the holding assembly. The flip-latch assembly alsoincludes a latching assembly mounted on a stationary frame memberpositioned immediately to the rear of the media holding assembly. Thelatching assembly engages a different longitudinally extendingprojection on the media holding assembly when the holding assembly is ineach of the rotational registration positions.

A longitudinally extendable and retractable media engaging member ismounted with in the holding assembly and is used to engage a media unit,typically a cartridge, positioned in front of the holding assembly andto pull the engaged cartridge into the holding assembly for subsequenttransport to a new storage location. The media engaging member isthereafter used to push the cartridge out of the holding assembly intothe new storage location or drive. A longitudinally rearwardly extendingprojection mounted on the media engaging member is positioned such thatas the cartridge engaging member moves to its rearwardmost position,this extension on the media engaging member trips the latch assembly,i.e., contacts and moves a portion of the latch assembly in a manner soas to unlatch the projection on the holding assembly and allow theholding assembly to rotate.

Applicants have discovered problems with the flip-latch arrangementdescribed in Methlie et al. Due to the use of a latching assemblymounted to the rear of the media holding assembly and longitudinallyextending latch engageable projections on the media holding assembly andlongitudinally extending latch tripping projections on the cartridgeengaging member, extremely close longitudinal tolerances must bemaintained in all of the associated system components, e.g., between themedia holding assembly and the engaging member, between the mediaholding assembly and the frame member where the latching assembly ismounted, between the latching assembly and the frame on which it ismounted, as well as the longitudinal dimensions of the projections onthe holding assembly and the media engaging member. If such closetolerances are not maintained then malfunctions may occur. For example,the projection on the holding assembly may not properly contact thelatch assembly causing it to bounce out of the latch assembly. Highprecision is also required in and between components in thecircumferential direction because of the radical inward location of thelatch assembly. If precision of dimensions in the circumferentialdirection is not maintained, then the registration position of theholding assembly may be angularly misaligned with associated cartridgedrives or storage bays leading, again, to system malfunctions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a flip latch assembly for a mediaautochanger which overcomes the above-mentioned problems with currentlyused flip latch assemblies.

The flip latch assembly of the present invention is used in a mediaautochanger having a media holder assembly which is rotatably supportedin a media holder assembly support frame.

The media holder assembly is rotatable relative to the support frameabout a longitudinally extending, media holder flip axis. The mediaholder assembly includes a chassis and at least one media engager whichis longitudinally displaceable within the chassis for engaging mediaunits such as optical disk cartridges and moving such cartridges intoand out of the chassis.

The flip latch assembly includes at least one stud mounted on thechassis and extending laterally outwardly therefrom. In a preferredembodiment, there is a separate stud provided for each angularregistration position between the media holder assembly and the supportframe. In one embodiment in which there are two registration positions180 degrees apart, diametrically opposed, laterally projecting studs aremounted on the media holder chassis. A stud latcher is mounted on onelateral side of the support frame in the rotational travel path of thetwo studs. Rotation of the media holder assembly causes a stud to beengaged and held in a fixed position by the stud latcher until the studlatcher is tipped. By using laterally projecting studs and an associatedstud latcher mounted on a lateral side of the support frame rather thanusing longitudinally projecting studs and a stud latcher mounted on alongitudinal end of the support frame, the need for precise longitudinaldimensioning and arranging of multiple frame and media holder componentsis obviated. Maintaining dimensional accuracy of the laterally extendingstuds is relatively easy because the frame and media holder have onlyone component which is critical to lateral positioning—the media holderrotation axes. The use of studs extending from the lateral side of themedia holder chassis in association with a stud latcher mounted on alateral side of the support frame also makes dimension of the studs andstud latcher components in the circumferential direction less criticalthan with other currently used devices because the components of thepresent invention are provided at more radially remote locations. Adimensional error between registration components at a radially remotelocation causes less angular misalignment between the associated supportframe and media holder assembly than the same dimensional error wouldcause in radially inwardly positioned components.

The flip latch assembly also includes a trip assembly which is actuatedby the media engager. Since the stud latcher is mounted on a lateralside of the support frame rather than at a longitudinal end of thesupport frame immediately opposite the media holder, the amount oflongitudinal displacement produced by the trip assembly in response toactuation by the media engager is not limited by component longitudinalspacing considerations and thus may be of a relatively large magnitudewithout interfering with the rotation of the media holder. Thisrelatively large magnitude displacement which may be made by the studtripper allows a relatively large stud catching and releasing opening tobe provided within the latch assembly, again reducing the criticality ofcomponent dimensions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An illustrative and presently preferred embodiment of the invention isshown in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a media autochanger with housing panelsremoved;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a media autochangerincluding a media holder assembly and associated support frame, showingthe holder assembly in one of its two angular registration positions;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the media holder assembly and associatedsupport frame of FIG. 2 showing the media holder in rotationaltransition between registration positions;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the media holder assembly andassociate support frame of FIGS. 2 and 3 showing the media holder in theregistration position of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of a portion of the media holderassembly of FIGS. 1-4 with the media holder chassis and the supportframe removed;

FIG. 6 is a detail perspective view of a latching assembly and trippingassembly associated with the support frame shown in FIGS. 2-4 andshowing a laterally extending stud associated with the media holdingassembly in latched engagement with the latching assembly;

FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of certain components of the mediaholding assembly, support frame, latching assembly and tripping assemblywith certain other components removed for clarity and showing theholding assembly in the registration position shown in FIG. 2 with thelatching assembly in the latched state shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a detail view similar to FIG. 6 except showing the latchingassembly tripped to release the stud.

FIG. 9 is a view identical to FIG. 7 except showing the position ofvarious components when the latching assembly and tripping assembly arein an operating state depicted in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIGS. 6 and 8 except showing the latchingassembly in a closed state prior to being engaged by a holding assemblystud;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIGS. 7 and 9 except showing the variouscomponents in an operating state depicted in FIGS. 3 and 10;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIGS. 6, 8 and 10, except showing theinitial engagement of a one-way gate portion of the latching assembly bya holding assembly stud;

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIGS. 7, 9 and 11 but showing the variouscomponents in the operating state associated with FIGS. 2 and 6;

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13 except showing a top media engagermoved forward from the position of FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a detail top, front perspective view of a brake drum assemblyshown in FIGS. 2 and 3 with the attached media holding assembly removed;

FIG. 16 is a schematic front elevation view of the brake drum assemblyof FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a schematic, front elevation view of an alternativeembodiment of a brake drum assembly;

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of two Hall-effect sensors and an associateddata processor;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating basic signal processingoperations performed by the data processor of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating components of a system formonitoring and calculating motor displacement; and

FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating a media holder positionverification procedure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Flip-Latch Assembly in General

FIGS. 2 and 6 through 14 illustrate a flip-latch assembly 10 for a mediaautochanger 12, FIG. 1. The media autochanger has a media holderassembly 14, FIGS. 1 through 3, which is rotatable relative to a mediaholder assembly support frame 16 about a longitudinally extending mediaholder flip axis AA. The media holder assembly 14 includes a chassis 18and a media engager 20. The media engager 20 is longitudinallydisplaceable relative to the chassis 18 between an extended position, asshown in phantom lines in FIG. 2, and a retracted position, as shown insolid lines in FIG. 2.

The flip-latch assembly includes a stud 26, FIG. 3, extending laterallyoutwardly from the chassis 18. The flip-latch assembly further includesa stud latcher 30 which is fixedly positioned relative to the mediaholder assembly support frame 16. The flip-latch assembly 10 furthercomprises a stud latcher tripper assembly 32 which is actuatable by themedia engager 20.

Having thus described the flip-latch assembly 10 in general, onespecific embodiment of the flip-latch assembly and associated mediaautochanger will now be described in further detail.

Media Autochanger

FIG. 1 illustrates a media autochanger i.e., a media handling andtransporting apparatus adapted for handling media units 50, 52 such asoptical disks, magnetic disks, data tapes and the like which aretypically enclosed within media housings or cartridges. Mediaautochanger 12 may linearly displace the media units 50, 52 in a lateraldirection (XX) a longitudinal direction (YY) and in a vertical direction(ZZ).

The media autochanger 12 may include a plurality of storage bays 60, 62,etc., in which a plurality of media units 50, 52 etc., are stored. Thestorage bays may be arranged in a plurality of vertical stacks orcolumns 64, 66 which may also include media drive units 68, 70.

A cartridge transporting assembly of the media autochanger is adapted toengage a cartridge in a storage bay or drive and to displace thecartridge in a longitudinal (XX), lateral (YY) and vertical (ZZ)direction and is also adapted to flip the media unit about alongitudinal axis. The assembly 80 for producing longitudinaldisplacement and flipping displacement about a longitudinal axis is bestshown in FIGS. 1 through 3 and includes media holder assembly 14 andmedia holder assembly support frame 16. Assembly 80 is supported by avertical displacement assembly 82 such as that disclosed in the abovecited references and particularly U.S. patent application Ser. No.08/020,160 filed Feb. 18, 1993 for LINEAR DISPLACEMENT AND SUPPORTAPPARATUS FOR USE IN A CARTRIDGE HANDLING SYSTEM of Luffel et al. Thevertical displacement assembly 82 is in turn supported on a horizontaldisplacement assembly 84 which may be of a type described in any of theabove cited references.

The vertical displacement assembly 82 which supports assembly 80 holdssupport frame 16 in a fixed angular orientation, i.e., frame 16 is notangularly displaced relative to any of axes XX, YY or ZZ duringautochanger operation. Support frame 16 provides an angular frame ofreference for rotation of media holder assembly 14.

As best illustrated by FIGS. 2 and 3, the support frame 16 has agenerally rectangular shape having a rear end portion 101, a firstlateral side portion 103, a front end portion 105 and a second lateralside portion 107 formed by U-shaped channel members 102, 104, 106 and108, respectively. Support frame 16 also includes web structure 110supported on interior portions of the U-shaped channel members. Thesupport frame 12 also includes an interior cross member 112 which ismounted on portions of web structure 110 and which rotatably supports arear end portion of threaded shaft 172 as described in further detailbelow.

Each U-shaped member has an upper and lower inwardly extending armportion 114, 116 which is integrally formed with a vertically extendingcentral body portion 115, as best seen on front member 106 in FIG. 3.Cutouts 118, 120 are provided in each of the upper arm portions oflateral members 104 and 108, respectively, and identical cutouts (notshown) are provided in the lower arm portions of lateral members 104 and108 directly below the upper cutout portions. These cutouts are alignedwith and allow passage of studs 26, 28 when media holder assembly 14rotates about axis AA as described in detail below. Stud latcher 30 islocated in channel 104 proximate to the cutout portions 118, etc.,therein as is also described below.

As previously mentioned, the assembly 80 for producing longitudinaldisplacement and flipping displacement of media units 50, 52, etc.includes a media holder assembly 14 which is rotatably mounted withinsupport frame 16. As best illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the mediaholder assembly 14 may comprise a generally rectangular, box-shapedchassis 18 having a first (rear) longitudinal end portion 142, a second(front) longitudinal end portion 144, a first lateral side portion 146and a second lateral side portion 148. In one preferred embodiment ofthe invention the media holder assembly 14 comprises first and second,parallel, spaced-apart, longitudinal extending wall portions 151, 153which each have edge portions which abuttingly engage first and secondend portions 142, 144 and first and second lateral side portions 146,148 of the chassis 18. Each of the lateral side portions 146, 148 has anupper, inwardly extending flange portion 145 and an identical lowerinwardly extending flange portion (not shown).

Each longitudinally extending wall portion 151, 153 and associatedportions of the first and second lateral side portions of the chassisform identical first and second chassis sleeve portions 152, 154 whichare adapted to receive and support media units e.g., 50, 52 therein.

The media holder assembly 14 also comprises a media engager 20positioned within chassis 18. In the preferred embodiment illustratedherein, the media engager 20 comprises a first engager member 162, FIGS.2, 3, 4 and 5 having a central, longitudinally extending axis (BB)parallel to the media holder flip axis (AA). First engager member 162 ispositioned within the chassis first sleeve portion 152. The mediaengager 20 also comprises a second engager member which islongitudinally displaceable along a central displacement axis (CC)parallel to axes (BB) and (CC). The second media engager member 164,which may be identical to the first engager member 162, is positionedwithin second chassis sleeve portion 154. As best shown by FIG. 3, eachof the engager members comprises a flat front edge 165 which is adaptedto abuttingly engage a media unit for the purpose of pushing the mediaunit out of the sleeve; a rear projection portion 167 which is adaptedto pass through an associated opening in the rear portion of the chassis18 to trip the stud latcher 30 with a flat rear end surface 169 thereof,FIGS. 2, 5 and 6. Each engager member also has a generally flat edgesurface 170, FIG. 5, from which the rear projection 167 extends. Eachengager member has a rear tail portion 173, FIG. 5, which projects intoa transmission housing as described below. Each media engager memberalso comprises first and second spring-loaded fingers 166, 168 mountedon an outwardly positioned face thereof. The first and second fingers166, 168 are adapted to engage notches in lateral edge portions of mediacartridges 50, 52 allowing the associated engager member to pull theengaged media cartridge from a storage location or drive unit into theassociated sleeve portion 152, 154 of the chassis 18.

The media holder assembly has two rotational registration positions withthe frame: an “engager member 162 up” position as shown in FIG. 2, andan “engager member 164 up” position rotated 180 degrees from the member162 “up” position. The member 164 up position is identical in appearanceto the member 162 up position shown in FIG. 2 since the media engagers162 and 164 and the associated sleeve portions 152, 154 are identicaland positioned on opposite sides of the media holder assembly.

Each engager member 162, 164 is drivingly engageable with a threadedshaft or lead screw 172 having a longitudinal rotation axis which iscoaxial with the flip axis (AA) of the media holder assembly 14.

A first end portion 175 of threaded shaft 172 is rotatably supported, asby a conventional bearing assembly (not shown) mounted in cross framemember 112. The second end 177 of the threaded shaft is supported asthrough a conventional bearing assembly on the support frame 16 at amid-portion of front U-shaped channel 106. The lead screw 172 isalternately selectively engageable with either the first engager member162 or second engager member 164 through operation of a transmissionassembly 176 such as that fully described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 08/020,160 filed Feb. 18, 1993 for LINEAR DISPLACEMENT ANDSUPPORT APPARATUS FOR USE IN A CARTRIDGE HANDLING SYSTEM of Luffel etal., incorporated by reference above. The transmission assembly 176 maybe provided within a transmission housing 178 which comprises a rearface plate 180.

A brake drum member 182 is fixedly attached to the housing rear faceplate 180 as by projecting bolt and nut assemblies 184 or otherconventional attachment means.

A gear 192 may be mounted near a terminal end of the first end portion175 of lead screw 171. Gear 192 is connected through a drive belt 194 toa drive motor 196 having a drive shaft 197 parallel to shaft 172 andwhich is driveable in a forward and reverse direction. Drive motor 196is fixedly mounted on the support frame as through a motor bracket 198fixedly secured to web structure 110 as by bolts or other conventionalattachment means. The transmission assembly 176, transmission housing178 and brake drum 182 are all fixedly attached to the media holderassembly and rotate as a unit when the media holder assembly rotates.

Stud Latcher

As best illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6, stud latcher 30 may comprise anassembly which includes a bracket member 210 which is received inside ofU-shaped channel member 104 (shown partially in phantom in FIG. 6) belowcutout 118 therein. Bracket member 210 comprises a top portion 212, abottom portion 214, a rear end portion 216, a front end portion 218, afirst lateral side portion 220, and a second lateral side portion 221.The second lateral side portion 221 is positioned in abutting engagementwith main body portion 115 of U-shaped channel member 104 and is held infixed relationship therewith by attachment devices such as, for example,screws (not shown) received through attachment bores 222, 224 in thebracket member and corresponding bores (not shown) in the channelmember.

The bracket member 210 has a top opening 226 which is at least as wideas the cutout 118, FIG. 3, in the U-shaped channel and which ispositioned in alignment with cutout 118 and the identical cutout in theU-shaped channel positioned directly below cutout 118. The bracketmember 210 also comprises a lower opening 228 which communicatesdirectly with the lower channel cutout (not shown) and with cutout 118through top opening 226. The upper and lower cutouts 118, etc. in theU-shaped channel and the top opening and lower opening 226, 228 in thebracket members are located in the circular rotation path of studs 26,28 and would allow free movement of the studs through this rotation pathexcept for other components in the stud latcher 30, described below,which selectively interfere with such movement.

A longitudinally extending opening or slot 230 extends from a rearportion to a front portion of the bracket member 210 and accepts a slideplate 232 therewithin. Slide plate 232 comprises a rear end portion 234and a front end portion 236 and has a central, cutout opening 238 whichis selectively movable into and out of alignment with bracket topopening 226. Rear end portion 234 of the slide plate is slidingly,pivotally attached to a pivot member 272 of the stud latch tripper 32and is forwardly and rearwardly longitudinally displaceable by pivotablemovement of the pivot member 272 to cover and uncover top opening 226 toprevent or allow passage of the studs 26, 28 therethrough. Thus, theslide plate 232 is a displaceable stud stop member which stops passageof the studs 26, 28 except when it is moved so as to dispose cut-outopening 238 in alignment with bracket top opening 226. The slide plate232 is restrained by guide portions of the bracket against movementother than longitudinal movement 240. The guide devices may be, forexample, an interior, longitudinally extending boss 241 in the slideplate 232, FIG. 7, which is received in a conforming elongate groove(not shown) on an interior surface of bracket member 210 and/or maycomprise an exterior guide surface such as bracket portion 241 and wallportion 115 of U-shaped bracket 104 or any other guide means.

As also illustrated by FIG. 6, a pivotal latch member 242 is pivotallyattached at a bottom portion 244 thereof to bracket 210 for pivotalmovement about lateral axis HH. The pivotal latch member 242 maycomprise a bottom portion attachment tab 246 which is connected to afirst end of a bias member 248 such as a coil spring which may beattached at the opposite end thereof (not shown) to a fixed portion ofsupport frame 16. The bias member 248 biases the pivot member 242 inpivot direction 250 urging a top forward edge portion 252 of the pivotmember into engagement with a forward wall portion of bracket loweropening 228 when no stud is present, FIG. 10, and which urges a top,arcuate surface portion 255 of the pivotal latch member against thebottom of a stud to lock it into non-movable abutting relationship withslide plate 232 when a stud is in the registration position illustratedin FIGS. 2, 6 and 7. The pivotal latch member 242 is thus constructedand arranged to operate as a one-way gate such that a stud 26 or 28,while moving in its rotation path, will initially, FIG. 12, contactlower surface 255 and cause the pivotal latch member to pivot in thedirection opposite its biased direction 250 until the stud passes thetop forward edge 252 thereof, after which member 242 will pivot in thebiased direction 250 until the stud is locked immobily into positionbetween the upper surface 255 of the pivotal latch member 242 and thelower surface of the slide plate 232.

Stud Latcher Tripper

As best illustrated in FIG. 6, stud latcher tripper 32 comprises a firstpivot member 272 having a first end 274, a second end 276 and anintermediate portion 275 having a shaft receiving bore 278 therein. Apin received through the shaft receiving bore pivotally attaches thepivot member 272 to the frame web 110 and allows pivotal displacement ofthe first pivot member about pivot axis II. A shaft receiving bore 282in the second end 276 of the first pivot member is adapted to receive apin which attaches the first pivot member to an arcuate slot (not shown)in slide plate 232 to define a shifting pivot axis JJ. The second end276 also comprises a connector tab portion 284 attached to a bias membersuch as a coil spring 286, which is attached at an opposite end to theframe web 110 and which biases the first pivot member in bias direction288. A stop on the frame web 110, which may be an internal stop member,(not shown), limits the pivotal movement of the first pivot member inthe direction opposite to direction 288 to the position illustrated inFIG. 6. Another stop member (not shown) may limit the rotation in thedirection opposite to 288 to the position illustrated in FIG. 8.

A tripper second pivot member 292 is mounted as by a pivot shaft 294 onthe first end 274 of the first pivot member, enabling pivotal movementof member 292 about pivot axis KK. A bias member such as an internalspring (not shown) biases the tripper second pivot member 292 in biaseddirection 296. Rotation in direction 296 is limited to the positionillustrated in FIG. 6 by the upper surface of web 110 or other stopmeans. Second pivot member 292 comprises a front end face 298 which isengageable with a rear end face 169 of engager rear projection portion167. The second pivot member 292 also comprises a flat bottom end face299 which is engageable with an upper surface 171 of cartridge engagerrear projection portion 167 during some operating conditions asdescribed in further detail below, e.g., FIG. 13.

Operation of the Flip-Latch Assembly

FIGS. 2, 4 and 13 show the position of the flip-latch assembly 10immediately after the autochanger media holder assembly 14 has completeda flip and is positioned in a first registration position in which mediaengager 162 is up and engager member 164 is down. FIG. 6 shows inphantom the position which the tripper second pivot member 292 occupiesat this time. The tripper first pivot member 272 is in its normal biasposition and the second tripper pivot member 292 is pivoted up and awayfrom its normal biased position at an angle of about 45 degrees. Thesecond tripper pivot member has been urged away from its normal biasposition by the rear projection portion 167 of media engager 162 whichhas rotated up from a position directly below the second tripper pivotmember 292 to the position which the second tripper member itselfoccupies in its normal biased position. The second tripper pivot member292 thus is supported in its flipped-up position by top surface 171 ofengager rear projection portion 167 as best shown in FIG. 13.

In this initial operating state, each of the media engager members 162,164 are in a fully retracted position, i.e., are at the rearmostposition of each of these members. The immediately preceding rotation ofmedia holder assembly 14 in the flip direction 27 was terminated bycontact of media holder laterally extending stud 26 with the slide plate232 of the stud latcher assembly 30. The transmission assembly whichtransmits driving force from the motor to the lead screw 172 isconstructed and arranged (as explained in detail in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 08/135,067 of Rugg, et al.) such that no furtherrotation of the motor in the direction associated with the flippingmovement 27 of the media holder assembly 14 is possible until aftermotor reversal.

The direction of rotation of the motor is reversed to perform the nextautochanger operation. When the motor is operated in reverse, thetransmission assembly (as explained in detail in the Rugg et al. patentapplication referenced above) operates to engage the currently upwardlypositioned engager member, eg., first engager member 162, causing it tobe longitudinally forwardly displaced. In a typical apparatus in whichthe length of the second pivot member of the tripper assembly 292 has alength of about 15 millimeters, such forward displacement of the firstengager member 162 by about 8 millimeters allows the second pivot member292 of the tripper assembly to pivot downwardly into its normal biasedposition which is best illustrated in FIG. 6 (in solid lines) and inFIG. 7. In this position, in which the second tripper pivot member 292is in a generally horizontal orientation, the end face 298 of the pivotmember 292 is positioned directly opposite the end face 169 of the rearprojection 167 of first engager member 162. From this position, furtherrotation of the drive motor in the same direction causes further advanceof the first engager member 162 in a forward longitudinal direction.FIG. 14 shows the position of the media engager after it has moved aboutthirty millimeters forward from the position shown in FIG. 6. Forwardmovement of engager member 162 may be continued until the engager member162 reaches a position near the end of chassis 18 as shown in phantomlines in FIG. 2. This is a movement employed by the autochanger eitherto move the engager member 162 into position to engage a cartridge 50positioned in a storage slot 60 or media drive 68, or to move an engagedcartridge from a retracted position within the chassis 18 into analigned storage bay or drive unit as explained in detail in the Rugg etal. patent application.

In order to disengage the upper engager member 162 and engage the secondengager member 164 with the transmission 176, the first engager membermust be moved a few millimeters, e.g. 10 millimeters, forward from theposition of FIG. 6 and then returned to that position by reversing themotor drive direction. The second engager 164 may now be driven forwardby again reversing the motor drive direction. The second engager member164 may be disengaged and the first engager member 162 re-engaged withthe transmission in this same manner as explained in detail in Rugg etal. referenced above.

In the alternative, once the first engager 162 has been moved forwardlyto the position shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the direction of the drive motormay again be reversed causing the first engager member 162 to be movedrearwardly into abutting engagement with the second pivot member 162 ofthe stud latcher tripper assembly 32. After initial engagement with thetripper second pivot member 292, further displacement of the firstengagement member 162 in the rearward direction causes the tripper firstpivot member 272 to rotate from its normal biased position shown inFIGS. 6 and 7 to the angularly displaced position illustrated in FIGS. 8and 9. As previously described, the pivotal displacement of member 272about axis II in a direction opposite 288 produces sliding displacementof slide plate 230 in a forward direction causing the central opening238 thereof to be positioned in registration with the top opening 226 inbracket member 210. This registration between the slide plate openingand the bracket opening 226 releases the stud 26 which was previouslycaptured between the pivotal latch member 242 and the slide plate 232thus freeing the media holder assembly 14 to again rotate in flipdirection 27, i.e., rotation about longitudinal flip axis AA. The mediaholder 14 thus rotates as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 11 in rotationdirection 27 until completing a 180 degree flip. At the beginning ofthis 180 degree flip, the rear projection portion 167 of first engagermember 162 pivots up and out of engagement with the latch tripperassembly allowing pivot member 278 to return to its normal biasedposition out of registration with bracket opening 226 as illustrated inFIGS. 10 and 11. In this operating state, the slide plate has closedopening 226 and is positioned to stop the next stud 28 which enters thestud latcher assembly 30.

As shown in FIG. 12, as the flip approaches 180 degrees, the stud 28opposite the stud 26 originally engaged by the stud latcher 30 comesaround and engages a lower surface 257 of the pivotal latch member 242causing the pivotal latch member to pivot in a direction opposite to thedirection in which it is normally biased. The stud 28 proceeds to thestop position shown in FIGS. 13 and 2, except that now the second sideof the media holder assembly 14, i.e., the side containing the secondengager member 164 is positioned uppermost. As previously described,after passing the upper forward edge surface 252 of the pivotal latchmember 242, the pivotal latch member pivots forwardly due to the biasforce applied by attached spring 248. The pivotal latch member 242 isconstructed and arranged such that the top surface 246 thereof wedgesthe engaged stud 28 into immobile relationship between the pivotal latchmember and the lower surface of slide member 232.

Brake Drum Assembly

As previously mentioned, a brake drum member 182 is fixedly attached asby bolt and nut assemblies 184 to media holder chassis 18, FIG. 2. FIG.15 shows brake drum member 182 from a perspective reversed from thatshown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and with the transmission housing 178 on whichthe brake drum is mounted removed for clarity. The brake drum member 182may include a disc-shaped central body 320 and an integrally-formed,cylindrical ring 322 provided at the outer periphery of the centralbody. The cylindrical ring 322 comprises an outer surface 324 which maybe frictionally engaged by a stationary ring engaging member 326 havingan arcuate engagement surface 328. The ring engaging member 326 islaterally displaceably mounted on the web structure 110 of support frame16 as by laterally extending portions 327, 329, etc. of web 110 whichsupport and guide the ring engaging member 326. The ring engaging member326 is radially, inwardly biased against the outer surface 324 ofcylindrical ring 322, i.e. in bias direction 330, by a bias device suchas coil spring 332 which engages an interior portion of the engagingmember 326 and an opposite abutment surface 333, FIG. 16, of the supportframe web 110. The frictional engagement between the ring engagingmember 326 and cylindrical ring 322 exerts a torque on brake drum member182 which resists flipping rotation of media holder assembly 14. Thisresisting torque slows the rotation of media holder 14 sufficiently toprevent it from overrunning the drive motor 196, i.e., the torque issufficient to prevent the media holder assembly 14 from rotating fasterthan the transmission gear with which it is engaged. The drivingassembly for the media holder assembly may be constructed as describedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/135,067, of Rugg et al.,incorporated by reference above. The amount of torque which is to beapplied by the frictional engagement of engaging member 326 with ring322 will, of course, depend upon the speed and torque characteristics ofmotor 196 and the friction in the specific drive assembly with which thebrake drum assembly is used.

In one preferred embodiment, as illustrated by FIG. 16, the cylindricalring 322 has a perfect cylindrical shape with a constant radius of about32 millimeters and thus, the frictional force applied on the cylindricalring 322 by the ring engaging member 326 is approximately constantduring the entire flipping cycle.

In another embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 17, alternative brake drummember 334 has a peripheral ring 335 provided by a first progressivelyincreasing radius portion 336 and a second progressively increasingradius portion 338 which are provided in diametrically opposedrelationship. In this embodiment, each of the progressively increasingradius portions 336, 338 are identical in shape and have a radiusvarying from about 30 millimeters to about 33 millimeters. The brakedrum member 334 is oriented relative to the media holder assembly 14 towhich it is attached, such that an associated spring-biased,ring-engaging member 340 is positioned at the smallest radius portion ofring portion 336 at the registration position at the beginning of afirst flip cycle in which media engager member 162 is positionedupwardly and stud 26 is latched in the stud latcher, FIG. 2, and suchthat the minimum radius portion of the other progressive radius portion338 is positioned in engagement with ring engaging member 340 when thesecond media engager member 164 is positioned upwardly and the mediaholder stud 28 is locked in the stud latcher 30. It will thus be seenwith the configuration of FIG. 17 that the force resisting rotationwhich is exerted by the frictional engagement between ring engagingmember 340 and the peripheral ring 335 will increase progressively fromthe beginning of a flip cycle to the end of a flip cycle. Other surfaceconfigurations are, of course, possible and may be selected dependingupon the characteristics of the media holder 14 and any associated motor196.

Although engagement between an outer surface portion of a brake drumring is described specifically herein, it will be appreciated by thosehaving skill in the art that frictional engagement at an interiorcylindrical surface of a brake drum member could be used also to producea force-resisting rotation. Similarly, axial engagement of a surface ofdisc-shaped central body 320 could also be provided to create a torqueresisting rotation.

Magnet and Sensor Assembly

As best illustrated in FIG. 6, a permanent bar magnet 350 having a rearend 352, a front end 354, a first lateral side 356 which is a south poleof the magnet and a second lateral side 358 which is a north pole of themagnet are mounted in a recess 360 of rear projection 167 of first mediaengager member 162. The magnet 350 may be held in position within recess360 as by a magnet holding clamp 362 which is integrally formed withrear projection portion 167. A Hall-effect sensor 370 is mounted onsupport frame 16 laterally adjacent to and immediately forward of thetripper second pivot member 292. The rear projection portion of thesecond media engager may be identical to portion 167 shown in FIG. 6,except that it has a second magnet 351, FIG. 18, mounted thereonidentical to the mounting of magnet 350, except that the poles of magnet351 are reversed from those of magnet 350. Thus, when the second mediaengager member 164 is situated with its rear projection portion 167positioned as in FIG. 6, the side 359 nearer sensor 370 would be thesouth pole of the magnet and the other side 357 would be the north pole.A second Hall-effect sensor 380 may be mounted on support frame 15diametrically opposite to the first Hall-effect sensor 370 (with flipaxis AA located at the center of an imaginary circle perpendicular toaxis AA. Thus, when both media engager members 162, 164 are positionedin their rearmost positions and the media holder is in one of its tworotational registration positions, one sensor, e.g. 370, will sense theproximity of the first magnet 350 and the other sensor 380 will sensethe proximity of the other magnet 351 as illustrated schematically inFIG. 18. Hall-effect sensor 370 is connected by leads 372 andHall-effect sensor 380 is connected by leads 382 to a data processor374. The data processor 374 may be a conventional microprocessor such asa Intel 486 or Intel Pentium-based microprocessor provided withconventional Hall-effect sensor interface circuitry which enables thesignal produced by the Hall-effect sensor to be monitored by appropriatemonitoring software such that the magnitude and polarity of the sensorsignal may be determined at any selected time.

FIG. 19 illustrates basic operations performed by the data processor onthe input signal from the Hall-effect sensor. A first operation is todetermine whether the magnitude of the sensor signal exceeds apredetermined threshold value. If the sensor signal does exceed thepredetermined threshold value, then the data processor produces a signalto appropriate control software indicating that a magnet 350 or 351 isin the immediate proximity of the Hall-effect sensor 370. The secondoperation performed by the data processor is to determine the magneticpolarity of the Hall-effect sensor signal. The signal produced by theHall-effect sensor may be calibrated such that a positive signal isproduced when the sensor is in the proximity of a North pole and anegative signal is produced when the sensor is in the proximity of asouth pole. Thus, the determination of magnetic polarity may be madebased upon whether the signal is a positive signal or a negative signal.Since the polarity associated with sensing of the permanent bar magnet350 mounted on the first engager 162 is opposite to the polarity of thepermanent bar magnet 351 mounted on the second engager 164, the sign ofthe signal may be used by the data processor to determine which of themedia engager members 162 or 164 is positioned next to the associatedHall-effect sensor 370 or 380.

A controller which may include software and/or hardware such as thatdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,159 issued Aug. 13, 1991 for MECHANICALSENSE OF TOUCH IN A CONTROL SYSTEM of Donald Stavely et al. (andcorresponding EPO patent application No. 90302634.2 filed Mar. 13,1990), which is hereby specifically incorporated by reference for allthat it discloses, monitors the rotation of the drive shaft of motor 196and the drive shafts of the other autochanger drive motors, as bycounting motor encoder pulses, to determine the displacement of thevarious moving components of the autochanger, e.g., the longitudinaldisplacement of the media engager members 162, 164, the rotationaldisplacement of media holder assembly 14, etc., from an initiallocation. Similarly, the controller stores values representative ofdrive motor shaft displacement from a known location in association withvarious physical reference points of the system, e.g., the number ofvertical motor encoder pulses needed to raise the displacement assembly80 from a bottom-most position to the height of each of the variousmedia storage bags 60, 62 may be stored by the control system software.The controller is thus able to determine the instantaneous position andangular orientation of a cartridge 50 which is being transported by theautochanger and is also able to determine when a cartridge has reachedits final destination, e.g. loaded in a media drive unit 68, throughmonitoring of motor shaft rotation. Such a controller and autochangercomponents associated with media holder drive motor 196 are shownschematically in FIG. 20.

Motor 196 has an operably connected motor encoder 410 which generates apulse signal indicative of motor shaft angular displacement. This pulsesignal is received by a pulse counter 412 which counts pulses occurringsubsequent to a reset operation performed by reset unit 414. The pulsecount from counter 412 is provided to controller 416 (which may besoftware in data processor 374). Motor 196 also has a torque sensor 418connected thereto which provides a torque indicating signal tocontroller 416. Controller 416 sends command signals to control theangular displacement of the motor 196 drive shaft based upon theprocessing of the signals which it receives and stored position values.For this control system to operate accurately it is, of course,necessary to start the counting of encoder pulses from a known systemposition and orientation.

Autochanger 12 may employ the novel method of confirming thelongitudinal position of each of the media engager members 162, 164 andthe angular orientation of the media holder assembly 14 by monitoringand processing the signals of Hall-effect sensors 370, 371, aspreviously described in association with certain verificationdisplacements of the media holder assembly.

In one preferred embodiment, the control system monitors the Hall-effectsensors only during predetermined “sensing windows”.

One sensing window is at “power on”, i.e., at initial system start-up.FIG. 21 illustrates the basic operations performed by controller 416 atpower on verification. When the system is first switched on, drive motor196 is rotated in the direction associated with the flip rotateddirection 127 of the media holder assembly 14 until the motor reaches“saturation”, i.e. until one of the media holder studs is engaged by thestud latcher assembly 30 causing termination of flipping rotation andthe buildup of a sufficiently high rotation resisting torque (sensed bya motor torque sensor 418, FIG. 20) to cause motor controller 416 toterminate motor rotation. When the motor reaches saturation, the controlsystem “assumes” that the media holder assembly 14 is in one of the twopossible angular registration position with support frame 15, but doesnot have the information to determine which side of the media holderassembly (media engager 162 side or media engager 164 side) is up. Thepolarity reading from either one of the two Hall-effect sensors 370, 380provides this piece of information. The polarity reading from bothsensors may be used as a double check, i.e., if the upper Hall-effectsensor 370 senses a “north-pole closer” polarity (indicating that theengager member 162 side is up) the lower sensor 380 should sense a“south-pole closer” polarity (indicating that the engager member 154side is down).

As previously mentioned, the absolute value of each Hall-effect sensoris indicative of the relative closeness of the magnet 350 or 351 on theassociated engager member 162 or 164, with a signal magnitude over apredetermined value indicating that the associated engager member is inthe retracted position. Thus, if the magnitude of each Hall-effectsensor signal is above the associated threshold, the controllerdetermines that each engager member 162, 164 is in its retractedposition. If based on the Hall-effect sensor signals, the controllerdetermines each engager member 162, 164 is not in its retracted positionat this point, then an error signal is issued by controller 416 andappropriate manual or automatic error recovery procedures may beundertaken.

Assuming that the analysis of signals of the Hall-effect sensorsindicate that both media engager members 162, 164 are in the retractedposition, the controller actuates reset unit 414 to reset the encoderpulse counter to zero. Next, it actuates the drive motor 196 to drive itfor a short duration in the direction opposite to the direction whichproduces flipping motion 27. The transmission assembly of theautochanger is constructed and arranged such that this rotation of themotor in the counter direction after saturation in the flip directionwill cause either the top engager member, e.g. 162, or the bottomengager member, e.g. 164 to be longitudinally displaced, depending uponthe previous operating state of the transmission assembly (as fullyexplained in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 08/135,067 incorporatedby reference above). The duration of rotation in the counter directionis such as to produce a short, e.g. 10 mm, displacement of whicheverengager member 162 or 164 is currently engaged with the transmission.Since the previous operating state of the transmission assembly may notbe stored in the controller memory at start up, this displacement andsensor signal analysis provides the control system with a crucial pieceof information, i.e., it tells the control system which of the engagermembers is active. The control system now “knows” that the media holderassembly 14 is in rotational registration with the support frame 16; italso “knows” which engager member 162 or 164 is positioned “up”; it also“knows” which engager member 152 or 154 is active; and by counting themotor encoder pulses occurring during the short counter rotation aftermotor saturation in the flip direction, it also “knows” the exactposition of the active media engager member 162 or 164. Thus, thecontroller now has the information which it needs to place eitherengager member 162 or 164 in any desired longitudinal position, and italso has the information which it needs to place the media holderassembly in the desired registration position with the support frame 16,i.e., either the registration position with engager member 162 up or theregistration position with engager 164 up.

As a system check, the controller may perform the same general proceduredescribed above after each flip during system operation. The completedflip corresponds to the motor saturation move described above, afterwhich the controller verifies that both engagers 162, 164 are in thehome position. Next, the controller 416 issues a command to reversedrive the motor a predetermined short distance to verify that the properengager member 162 or 164 is active and the other engager is not active.If both verifications are positive, then the system continues normaloperation; if either verification is not positive, then an error signalis issued and appropriate manual or automatic error recovery proceduresmay be implemented.

It is contemplated that the inventive concepts herein described may bevariously otherwise embodied and it is intended that the appended claimsbe construed to include alternative embodiments of the invention exceptinsofar as limited by the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of displacing a media holder assembly of a media autochanger between a first rotational registration position and a second rotational registration position comprising the steps of: a) unlatching a first stud mounted on a first longitudinally extending, lateral side of the media holder assembly; b) rotating the media holder assembly about a first longitudinally extending rotation axis; c) latching a second stud mounted on a second longitudinally extending, lateral side of the media holder assembly opposite the first lateral side; d) pivotally displacing a gate member about a lateral axis in a first direction with the second stud member; and wherein the step of latching comprises urging and holding the second stud member in abutting engagement with a stop member through pivotal displacement of the gate member about the lateral axis in a second direction.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of unlatching comprises the step of slidingly displacing the stop member.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of slidingly displacing the stop member comprises rotationally displacing a first pivot member attached to the stop member.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of rotationally displacing the first pivot member comprises displacing an end portion of the first pivot member through displacement of a media engager.
 5. The method of claim 4 comprising the further step of pivotally displacing a second pivot member attached to said first pivot member during the step of pivotally displacing the media holder assembly about the longitudinally extending rotation axis.
 6. A method of displacing a media holder assembly of a media autochanger between a first rotational registration position and a second rotational registration position comprising the steps of: a) unlatching a first stud mounted on a first longitudinally extending, lateral side of the media holder assembly; b) rotating the media holder assembly about a first longitudinally extending rotation axis; c) latching a second stud mounted on a second longitudinally extending, lateral side of the media holder assembly opposite the first lateral side, comprising engaging the second stud with a latching assembly positioned laterally adjacent to the second lateral side of the media holder assembly at the time of latching. 